Experts working on app to flag 'fake news' on WhatsApp
Seeking to scotch rumors and identify fake news on social media platform WhatsApp, a team of experts at a Delhi-based institution is working on developing an application that may be able to tell you whether a message is fake or not. Ponnurangam Kumaraguru, Associate Professor of Computer Science at Indraprastha Institute of Information Technology, Delhi (IIIT-D) is heading the team developing the software.
App will help to tackle rumors circulated on WhatsApp
Rumors on WhatsApp have sparked off a spate of incidents involving mob fury, including one where five men were lynched on the suspicion of being child-lifters in Maharashtra's Rainpada village. Kumaraguru feels that the application will be a useful tool as the number of incidents has been reported in which people were killed in the violence, triggered by the rumors circulated on WhatsApp.
Team needs a large number of messages to analyze
"We are collecting a large number of data and have asked people to forward us messages on the number 9354325700. These messages will be analyzed, and accordingly, we will develop a model for putting a wrapper on such messages," Kumaraguru added.
Different colors shows the authenticity of the content
If a message is received, there will be color codes that will indicate the authenticity. A green might indicate that it is a legitimate content, yellow color might indicate that the system isn't able to decode it while red might indicate that it is definitely fake content, the professor said. He said the app is likely to be ready in a couple of months.
Team will study common-factors in message to identify its genuineness
"Through the messages received, we will study the common factors in such messages. The commonality might be an image, a URL or some words. If it is a forwarded message, it is a high probability that it is a fake message," said the professor.
